WordPress is the world’s most popular content management system now dominating nearly 40% of all websites. One reason it’s a fantastic choice is because of the flexibility to move your site to any hosting provider or platform. You can easily choose from thousands of free themes and plugins which can add powerful features to your website with a few simple clicks. And those are just a couple of the advantages!
Website development can be daunting, but WordPress provides the reliability you need and can trust to build the best site available. The WordPress Developer you hire, must have a thorough knowledge of the platform and should be able to make changes and upgrades in an efficient manner. Choosing the right developers who are both knowledgeable and committed to your company’s project will offer you tremendous value and piece of mind. If you’re not sure how to hire a qualified WordPress professional that will be a great fit for you, here are ten critical questions that you should ask before you make your decision.
Share Your Expectations
First, try to specify exactly what your outcome of this website will be. Do you have one goal or several such as marketing– drive traffic, engage prospects, generate leads and re-engage existing customers. Sales– help close sales by validating and supporting sales team communications. Customer Support – improve customer satisfaction through better service. Be as specific as possible. Tell the developer who you are, and who your customers are since no one knows your business better than you.
Once you’ve shared your company’s background and goals, it’s time for your interview. These ten questions are a great start and will help you get a relatively decent idea for the type of website construction and support you’ll receive once you say, “you’re hired.”
- How will you be building my website? What do I as the business owner need to provide?
Although this is a more technical question that you may not know the right or wrong answer to, what you’re really looking for here is a clear answer as to why the website is being constructed the way it is. There are really only three options here [with WordPress]:
- Using an existing theme (as is)
- Customizing an existing theme
- Building a custom theme from scratch
- Do I get complete ownership of my website? / What access do I get to my website?
Some developers will claim ownership over the files. Others allow you to have total ownership of the code, images, etc. Know what your developer does and doesn’t allow. Also, ask if there’s any fees for getting copies of your site, in case you need to move hosts.
- Will you be keeping my same domain, installing google analytics, and submitting it to all the major search engines?
Some developers will simply build a new site, with new URL’s and be done. Others will build redirects from old URL’s to the newer ones to preserve any search engine result listings. See what your developer does in this regard. Some CMS’s offer SEO features that allow to control page title, META
tags, etc. Ask if these will be available to you. - What will you be doing to keep my WordPress site secure?
SSL is a must for all websites. It’s also important to keep your site up-to-date, especially if using a CMS like WordPress, as security updates are released periodically. Find out if you are required to do these updates yourself, or if your host will be doing them for you, either automatically or on a set schedule.
- Will you be performing WordPress core, theme and plugin updates as they become available?
See #4
- Ask How and where your website will be hosted?
Will the company making your site be hosting it or do you need to find a host? is it on a shared server, if the site goes down how long is it down before you are notified. Are any updates to the site included, or are these billed separately?
- Will there be a backup and restore feature on my WordPress site?
Ask if there is a backup of data in case something happens.
- How can you make it easier for me to manage my website?
Is the site a CMS (content management system ) that I can have access to for content or picture changes?
- Will you provide after-support, updates, and maintenance?
Be sure and ask what the process is for getting a hold of your developer for changes or questions. What is your price for changes?
- What other things are important for your site to function properly? It usually includes having a forum or blog, subscribing to your news, the ability to log in, etc.
Define what your requirements are before you begin the process of building or updating your website. Make sure they’re included in the proposal, and work, as expected, before roll-out.
By asking these important questions in advance, you’ll ensure the experience in building your website is streamlined with efficiency and as stress-free as possible. A win/win for all!